The Fight He Couldn't Win
by Ladie in Lace
Summary: Mitsukuni Haninozuka is completely confident in his martial arts abilities, as he always has been—yet one opponent will test his limits in ways he never expected.
**This will be a short, few chapter story requested by Shiranai Atsune, sorry this took so incredibly long to get started!**

 **The OC and everything about her belongs to and was created by Shiranai Atsune.**

 **Hope you guys enjoy!**

* * *

Honey wasn't nervous.

He was never nervous before the start of a martial arts competition.

This was his field of study, his area of expertise, his art—there was no need for him to be anything but confident.

Then again, this was a competition uniting ten countries round the world, so Honey knew he would be fighting the best of the best. _Then again_ , he himself was the best of the best.

Looking around the _enormous_ gym, his eyes flickered from competitor to competitor. A girl with red hair from America, a elderly man from Korea, a teenage boy from China; they all appeared to be formidable opponents, all of them stretching their bodies with eae as they readied themselves. These were only a few of the people Honey saw. There were hundreds of people ready to compete. He furrowed his eyebrows as he contemplated the kicks he would attempt in his first fight.

"Mitsukuni."

Honey look up to Mori, who was standing at his side. Mori's eyes were filled with concern.

"I'm ready, don't worry. I know there's a ton of people here, but I can hold my own. You know I can. I'll win this thing." Honey said seriously.

Mori nodded his head once, seemingly satisfied.

"Mitsukuni Haninozuka."

Honey looked to his right, searching the crowd. He had heard his name.

"Excuse me."

He turned around and saw that a girl was standing behind him. He wondered if she wanted his autograph. That happened from time to time. A pretty girl would walk up and shyly ask for him to sign something, and then they would squeal and run off. He was, of course, used to this behavior, being in the host club.

Honey looked at her hands expectantly, but she wasn't holding anything. He looked up and saw that she was wearing a black t-shirt with the name Wakaba stamped across the front in large red letters, and the same thing beneath in Kanji. Was she a competitor?

"Hello." Honey said happily. She smiled, but it wasn't very friendly. It was menacing.

"I just wanted to meet the best martial artist in Japan before I knock him him from his pedestal."

"We're fighting one another? Aren't these contestants separated into men and women's divisions?" Honey asked, perplexed.

"Those girls don't stand a chance against me. They moved me to the men's division, it's the only way to keep this fair."

"I don't know about fair." Honey said tentatively. She narrowed her deep green eyes. An unusual color.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She said angrily.

"You said it yourself, I'm the best martial artist in Japan, I'm going to be fighting the greatest masters from around the world today."

"Fine, that's alright. Keep underestimating me, Haninozuka. It'll cost you the fight."

And just like that she was gone, her long ponytail disappearing into the crowd of people.

"Who was that?" Honey asked aloud, looking toward Mori. Mori seemed unaware of the exchange that had just occurred right beside him. He shrugged.

Honey bit his lip. Maybe he really was going to fight her, and now he had insulted his opponent.

"Maybe I should find her and apologize." He said to himself. Then a loud whistle sounded, resounding throughout the gymnasium.

" _Contestants, please make your way to your rings! The sparring competition will begin in five minutes time!_ " A voice called over the loudspeaker. Honey took a deep breath and began to walk toward his ring. his first fight was in ring five. Once he found it, he turned to Mori.

"Alright Takashi. I'm ready. You have to get to your ring too, right?"

Mori nodded and ruffled Honey's hair before moving off toward another ring. Honey wished he could watch Mori fight.

"I got this." Honey whispered, straightening his uniform. The chaos had begun to clear up, and everyone in the gym was either sitting on the bleachers to watch or siting around the perimeter of their designated fighting rings, which were marked by tape on the floor.

As he took his place sitting at the edge of the ring, he looked across the empty space at his soon to be competitors, and his eyes immediately landed on the same girl from before. She was easy to spot, her dark violet hair standing out among the other heads. She was now wearing a karate uniform. She was staring back at him, a hard yet blank expression on her face. A shiver ran down Honey's spine. She actually intimidated him.

* * *

Sayaka was doing her best to scare Haninozuka with her cold glare, but in all honesty, she was scared herself. She doubted she could beat him, and she doubted she could win even her first fight in the ring. She really had been moved to the men's division, but that didn't mean that she was confident in her ability to stay there.

Not to mention she didn't want people to watch her fight, and watch her lose. there had to be hundreds of spectators, maybe even thousands. Her hands were trembling.

All she wanted was to beat that guy, the best martial artist in Japan. He was so small, she couldn't help but underestimate him, yet she knew he was anything but weak. She had seen him fight before.

With her stomach churning in a ball of tight anxiety, she reached up to her ponytail and began to braid it, skillfully twisting stands of her hair into a plait. She looked away from Haninozuka as she did so, and she wondered if he was still watching her.

Another whistle sounded. The fighting was about to begin.

"Mitsukuni, Haninozuka. Huang, Joeseph."

Sayaka watched intently as the small blonde teenager stood and made his way to the center of the ring. A man about twenty-five years of age walked to meet him.

They stood face to face, or more so face to stomach because of Haninozuka's height. They then turned abruptly to the men judging them and bowed, before turning back to facing one another an bowing again.

The tension in Sayaka's muscles create a moment of incredible intensity that seemed to slow time. She didn't blink, he body didn't shift, her lungs did not fill with air or release a single breath as she watched the two bodies move into ready position. She knew that is she looked away for even an instance, if she got distracted and took her eyes off of this miraculous martial arts master, she would not learn how he moved. and if she did not learn such a valuable thing, she would never be able to defeat him.

A noise sounded in her ears, and as the two competitors began to move, she realized it was the sound of a judge telling them to begin. She watched as Haninozuka's leg flicked upward, and the opponent lifted his arm to block. But then, in a swift movement that lasted less than two seconds, Haninozuka jumped from the leg stationed on the ground and kicked with the other leg instead. The foot landed square in the chest of the older competitor, and Haninouka landed lightly on the ground before backing away.

A judge raised their arm.

"One point, Mitsukuni."

Another point right after this one and he would win the fight. It hadn't even been a minute yet.

A cold shivered ran down Sayaka's spine as she looked at Haninozuka's eyes. They were void of emotion, yet his brows were furrowed in intense concentration.

"He's amazing." She whispered.

He and his opponent Huang went back to their ready positions, and again, the fight was resumed.

This time, it was more complicated.

Haninozuka's opponent immediately jumped back a few paces, and when Haninozuka bounded forward to reach him, the opponent slid forward into Haninozuka's body, getting so close the teen couldn't get a kick in. Huang began to push Haninozuka back with compact punches, which Haninozuka could only defend. Then in a flurry of motion, Haninozuka slipped behind Huang. Huang spun around in confusion, letting his guard down, and Haninozuka seemed to smirk.

One high round house kick to the head. Silence. Everyone was in awe.

Then a whistle sounded.

The clapping began as Haninozuka was announced the winner of the fight. He bowed to the judges before sitting down at the opposite edge of the arena. Sayaka's eyes were wide. She had never seen a person so nimble, so quick. And she had never seen someone so intelligent in a fight. He knew exactly where to go, he knew exactly what would get his opponent to move the way he wanted him to move.

Sayaka swallowed hard.

But then she took a deep breath. He was good. He was very good. But she knew that she was better.

* * *

Honey was breathing heavily. It was difficult to move as quickly as he had, and it had taken its toll. He breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth as the next fight began. It was two men, he wasn't paying too much attention. He was too focused on regaining his calm and composure. He needed to be as concentrated during his fights as he could be.

It wasn't as easy as it looked.

He ended fights quickly, but it exhausted him. He could draw it out, conserve energy, but then he lost his psychological attack. Beating a master within a three minute or less period of time scared the life out of the other components. It rattled them. That was all he needed to win.

His heart had resumed a slower beat. He watched the current fight with a bit more interest. Both of the men were older, in their thirties, maybe even forties. They were fast, and strong, but Honey knew from watching them that they would never be able to keep up with him. The only opponent who seemed to be his age was that girl.

Honey looked across the fight as saw her. She wasn't watching the fight. She was still staring at Honey. It was staring to freak him out a little.

 _Maybe this is her own psychological warfare._

Then the whistle sounded. Honey didn't pay attention to the winner of the fight, he focused on staring back at that girl. He had to make her nervous, because that was what she had done to him.

"Mitskuni, Haninozuka. Wakaba, Sayaka."

Honey looked to the ground as he stood, making his way back toward the center of the arena. As he looked up at his opponent, he realized why the name had seemed odd.

Sayaka was usually a girl's name.

She was still staring him down, this time much closer. The girl from earlier. The girl that thought she could defeat him.

"Good luck, Haninozuka." She said. She extended a hand. Honey took it.

"Same to you, Sayaka."

They turned to bow to the judges.

Then they turned back to one another and bowed again. Honey closed his eyes and took one last deep breath as he focused his mind on the fight.

They moved into fighting positions, both of them balancing on their back heel, their muscles tense and ready to spring.

And, when the judge yelled, they began.

* * *

 **I hope people enjoy reading fight scenes? I don't even know.**


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